SAGINAW, MI — Saginaw County Jail inmates will soon have a new way to communicate with friends and loved ones.

Sheriff William Federspiel, in an effort to reduce the security risk associated with moving inmates around the facility for visitation, has brought a Skype-like video chat system to the county jail.

"It's going to save us a lot of movement in the jail," he said. "Anytime you have a correctional facility or a jail, the security risk is when you move people out of their cells and they're moving through the jail."

The video chat system, currently being installed in the facility located at 208 S. Harrison in Saginaw, is designed by Dallas-based Securus Technologies.

It will consist of about 45 video terminals spread throughout the jail for use by inmates and a bank of eight terminals available to those coming to the jail to visit with an inmate.

The sheriff said eliminating the movement of inmates from their cells to the visitation area will free up time for jail staff and reduce the likelihood of problems like fights between inmates at the bank of visitation phones.

"That happens all the time," Federspiel said. "This prevents it."

The new system has an advantage for inmates and their potential visitors as well, he said.

"They can visit their friend or loved one right from home, and the inmate will stay right in their cell," Federspiel said. "It's more convenient for the person coming to visit and it's more secure for us. This is a win-win for everybody."

Federspiel said the video system will mean the elimination of the current visitation method, where visitors are separated from inmates by a wall and glass windows. They communicate using a bank of about a dozen telephones mounted on either side of the wall.

"It's going to totally replace it," he said.

There will be a charge assessed for those who conduct video visitation with an inmate using the web-based remote visitation system, though the sheriff said the fee schedule for that service has not yet been set.

In Midland County, 25 minutes of time with an inmate currently costs $5. Saginaw County has an older facility, which the sheriff said might result in higher fees.

Federspiel said visitation will still be free to those coming in-person to the county jail and using one of the eight video kiosks that will be installed on-site.

"They don't have to pay," he said. "They can come in and do it for free."

But the sheriff said those coming to the jail for visitation after the new system is implemented should not expect to visit inmates face-to-face.

"If you come in the jail and use one of the kiosks, they're not going to see them in person," he said. "They're going to see them on a video screen."

In addition to eliminating the necessity for travel, Federspiel said the remote visitation option will also allow the whole family to see and speak with an inmate. Currently, he explained, children under the age of 16 are not allowed in the county jail's visitation area.

Those accessing the new system will also be able to contribute money to an inmate's commissary account, the sheriff said.

Michigan county jails that already offer video visitation service through Securus Technologies include those in Branch, Ingham, Isabella, Midland, Sanilac and Van Buren counties. Other Michigan jails offering similar services through other providers include Kalamazoo, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Kent, Kalamazoo and Ogemaw counties.

According to the company's website, Securus provides services to more than 2,200 correctional facilities in the United States and Canada.

Saginaw County Jail inmates, unless they are being disciplined for breaking jail rules, are currently allowed one half-hour-long visitation session each week, Federspiel said. The new system, since it is more efficient and can potentially connect more inmates at any given time, will mean inmates can get visitation privileges even more often, he said.

"These are going to go into almost every cell in the jail," Federspiel said.

Some of the inmate video visitation units will be mobile, he said; placed on carts than can be moved anywhere in the jail.

The sheriff said installation costs associated with the system are being funded through the county jail's "inmate trust fund," meaning there is no cost to Saginaw County taxpayers. Securus provides the video units themselves at no cost to the county, making its money back through the fees paid by those using the from-home visitation option.

The jail's inmate trust fund is populated with a portion of the money collected when inmates purchase luxury items — including socks, underwear and candy bars — through the facility's commissary.

"All that money adds up in an account," Federspiel said.

That money must be used for programs and improvements that benefit jail inmates, he explained. The new visitation system is just such an improvement, the sheriff said.

Federspiel said visitation videos, just like the audio conversations under the old system, will be recorded.

"There will be certain rules for behavior," he said. "No lewd of lascivious behavior. And violating the rules means you could lose the ability for visitation. We have a right to know what they're doing when they're incarcerated."

The new system, Federspiel said, will be integrated into a set of conduct rules already in place for Saginaw County Jail inmates.

He said inmates visiting with individuals for GED programs, religious reasons or for things like AA meetings will still do so via actual face-to-face interaction.

Though face-to-face visitations with inmates' attorneys are videotaped, Federspiel said, the audio of those conversations themselves are not recorded. Securus also will have a system in place for attorneys to conduct unrecorded video conversations with an inmate from their home or office computer.

The sheriff said he is not concerned about placing the new, expensive technology into cells with, in some cases, violent inmates.

"It's pretty tough," he said, demonstrating that fact by beating on the screen of a demonstration unit with one end of the telephone receiver.

Federspiel said he hopes to have the system fully installed by early July.

"We wanted this up and ready a couple of years ago," he said.

But challenges with the current facility slowed the process, Federspiel said.

"Better late than never," he said. "This is going to help us a great deal. It's invaluable for us."

A new visitation schedules has yet to be established, but Federspiel said he expects it will be more convenient for visitors than it is under the current system.